Sermon for the Episcopal Church of St John the Baptist, Capitola,
given by Rev. Stu Fitch/September 30, 2007
The Episcopal Church of Saint John the Baptist welcomes all to worship God and to share
Christ's love in the world. We are a parish family committed to provide liturgy, Bible study, music, counseling, and Christian education for children, youth, and adults, and to equip all our members for life and for service to other
One stress in our lessons today is the gap between the rich and the poor. It's easy to say yeh, look at today. The rich are getting richer and more are getting poorer. The gap is widening. And there is truth to that. Then I get to thinking about the poor in Mexico we visited a year ago, refugees like our Sudanese friends. and the poor and homeless around the world--no food, no place to sleep. And that's not us, but by comparison, like in Amos' time, we are the ones sleeping on beds of ivory and lounging on our couches (probably watchng TV). It depends on one¹s perception and circumstance. Who is rich and who is poor? We have an opportunity to make a difference for Sudanese refugees by supporting our Outreach fund raiser October 14. Details are in "This Week at St. John's".,[3:30 p.m. on October 14th at the church.]
Life offers many diverse points of view and another theme in our lessons is about perception of how it is. That is certaily true in the Anglican communion today. All the breakaway parishoners, parishes and Dioceses hold their point to view. Those of us remaining loyal to the Episcopal Church especially this parish and its position on the growing edge, are just as sure of our point to view..
Wise Archbishop Desmond Tutu wrote an emotional appreal to the Primates of the Anglican Communon to accept each other, to agree to disagree. I tried that with a breakaway parishoner at St .Mary's upset over my blessing a same gender relationship .I accepted his position as his and suggested that we agree to disagree. He refused and that ended dialogue and he terminated our friendship of many years. He was coming from his perception, as the Primates will come from theirs.
Archbishop Tutu further wrote "Our lord is weeping to see our Communion tearing itself apart on the issue of human sexuality, when the world for which he died is ravaged by poverty, disease, wars and corruption. We are one of God's agents to deal with these scorges. God has no one but us. Please I beg you all in our Lord's name. Agree to disagree: argue, debate, disagree, but all this as members of one family. Accept one another as God accepts us , however we are, in Christ."
I tried this too with another parishoner who choose to break away because of my support of gays and lesbians, citing the disproportionate concern about sexuality when the world¹s needs are so overwhelming. His response was "that's like apples and oranges"!!! No connection;.and that too ended dialogue and a 21 year old friendship. He was acting on his perception of truth.
Part of all this is what we feel is true is our perception of Truth. ;In dealing wth ourselves and others, we need to remember our conditioning---cultural traditions, family history, amount of education, where we live in the world. and what brand of Christanity in whiclh we were brought up .
Deeper than any side in an issue is God's Truth, which we are all called to seek and to live. But ego does get in the way. We don¹t want to change our point of view as then we wouldn't be in control!!! And besides, too many people are saying they know God's will. Each one of us must search our own hearts and reflect on Jesus' life and words and come to our conclusion, knowing it could be wrong.
We are also asked to share what we have, to make life more equal worldwide. Most of us are not ready to give it all away like.St. Francis did his rich inheritance. But we can strive to live more simply, to cut back. To ask ourselves "Do I really need this?" I look at all the stuff we have and wonder. We can share more, care more. And we can fast from things as we have fasted from food for Jubilee and the Millenium goals. How we use our richness (and we are all rich in so many ways) is choice. And we know many with more wealth than most of us who generously give to many worthwhile and worthy causes.
And there are those like the rich man in the Gospel story overlooking Lazarus over and over again. But, how many like unto Lazarus are sitting at our gates and we pass them by? Who do we exclude in the many areas of our lives? I¹m not sure the rich man was sent to hell but we do reap what we sew and are responsible for our activites, stewardship and opinions, whatever the results, Nobody does it to us..
Another part in the Gospel I see is that even when we are exhorted, told, given an example of how life should be, we don't see or hear. Like the reference to the rich man's brothers, who needed no more warning than had already been told. As I read the psalms daily, many are directed to leaders of nations, including ours, and I wonder if those leaders are reading them too. If so they don't seem to be getting the message. But then I continue blindly on the ego path and wonder why the world is like it is!!! What's that song? "Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me." In my sometimes negative judgments and perceptions of others, issues and Church and government action, am I bringng peace on earth? Sometimes we are called to protest and act,, but always from the heart.. One needs to ask "What kind of energy am I putting out into the world, positive or negative? And ;what does the world need?" One needs to remember that to judge another is to judge oneself because we are one in God. I thlnk that¹s what Jesus meant when he said judge not that ye be not judged!!! If the findings of the Genographc Project are true, DNA points to the fact we have all descended from a group of Africans, who lived 60,000 years ago.., The point being, we are truly one regardless of color or bodily characteristics. We are One in more ways than just in the One we worship. God must have planned it that way but we forget our Oneness and fall into a dualism of us and them, whoever they may be.
Often the other person as we perceive him or her has something that mirrors some trait within ourselves to ponder. Jesus said, "Love your enemies." Said a different way, love the people who bug you, love those who turn you off. They are usually our best teachers, reflecting a side of us we don't like to see or don't see, yet need to own and embrace. So don¹t turn away but hang in there to learn your lesson Not to live it out, but to honor it and offer it to God. I often say in the Lord's Prayer in my privare devotions::"Thank you Lord for years of daily bread, continue to give me all I need for my spiritual, physical, mental, psychological, soul growth and unfolding." The experiences and people in life, both pleasent and hard to take, are part of that daily bread. May we have the eyes to see the lesson in each. This involves a quiet time to listen and to write in a journel. And to keep asking and writing and remembering to ask "What are you trying to tell me Lord?"
In the Epistle we are exhorted to shun harmful desires, persue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness. Even here we have different perceptions The Religious Right feel they are doing all these good things. So does the Religious :Left!!! We live in a world of differences. Can we agree to disagree and not demonize each other as Archbishop Tutu pleads? We aren¹t Anglican Primates, but we are primates and can certainly start right here at St. John's, striving to accept all persons and their perceptions of the world. It'll take time, patience and awareness. But if we will walk with each other it will happen as we align ourselves more closely to God and the teachings of Jesus, deepenilng our relationship with the One who is with all and within all. The Christ we seek and serve in all persons, situations, and things.
We are One. I am you and you are me. We are them and they are us. All are That..
